Elliott Sharp's Terraplane

Biography

1 March 1951, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Trained as a classical pianist from the age of six, and performing in public from eight, Sharp was educated with a career in science in mind. Through fear of progressive ill health owing to incipient asthma, he learned to play the clarinet in order to strengthen his lungs. However, at the age of 17 he heard Jimi Hendrix on the radio and acquired an electric guitar, promptly applying his scientific training to help him build accessories such as a fuzz boxes and tape echo units. Sharp developed his guitar technique, aided by reading books on music, including the musical-mathematical techniques promulgated by Xenakis Formalized Music and the works of John Cage, Henry Cowell and Harry Partch. Meanwhile, he was playing with rock bands, attempting to perform everything from blues to jazz fusion. He then attended Cornell University where he studied anthropology and also sat in at classes on electronics conducted by Robert Moog....